‘Take Me Out,’ Capital Repertory Theater, 1/24/07

ALBANY â€¦ “Take Me Out” is a play about baseball. It’s a play about homosexuality. It’s a play about celebrity. It’s a play about democracy. It’s a play about ignorance. Frankly, it’s probably a play about too many things.

Â You start to wonder when playwright Richard Greenberg is going to throw in the kitchen sink rather than the first pitch.

Â But that’s all right.

Â Greenberg is just trying to make for a complete night of theater, and in that regard, he succeeds. So does Capital Repertory Theater, which is presenting a â€¦ in many ways â€¦ remarkable regional premiere production of the play.

Â Much of the action centers on center fielder Darren Lemming (Jacques Cowart II). He’s a superstar in the old-fashioned sense, because, man, can he play ball. But
he’s entirely modern in that he’s beyond wealthy, he’s biracial and, as he lets loose at a news conference, he’s gay.

Â And, yes, as you may have heard, a good portion of the play takes place in the locker room where the cast is occasionally entirely naked.

Â Things get even more interesting with the arrival of relief pitcher Shane Mungitt (Jake Suffian), an ignorant Southerner with a dark past who comes from the AA Utica
squad with an arm like a rifle.

Â Things also get a little heavy with Mungitt’s arrival, and this is where Greenberg tries to stuff too many story lines into a small space.

Â Thankfully, he’s an adept enough writer that he makes the audience laugh, sigh and wince in equal proportions.

Â Overall, director Kirk Jackson â€¦ who has helmed the play before in Washington, D.C. â€¦ does a fine job, although he does give into painting some characters, including
Mungitt, too broadly.

Â He is aided by a cast topped with the impressive Cowart (who starred in the D.C. show) as Lemming. He’s a natural, who plays the role with many subtle shades. He
also doesn’t shy away from Lemming’s pride and arrogance.

Â William Peden is also strong as the show’s ersatz narrator, Kippy Sunderstrom. Sunderstrom is smart and smart-alecky, and Peden grapples with the character’s inner desire to matter while delivering comic lines with elan. Nice work.

Â The oddly eight-member team is complete by Humberto Domingo Fabre, Richard Damaso, Todd Gebhart, Richard Lounello and Nobuo Inubushi, with Capital Rep
vet Kevin Craig West as opposing team member Davey Battle and Richard Schofield as the coach.

Â Oliver Wadsworth provides comic relief as baseball newbie â€¦ and Lemming’s business manager â€¦ Mason Marzac. He is clearly Greenberg’s voice, even if Wadsworth amps up the comedy more than necessary.

Â Ultimately, “Take Me Out” will please fans of theater and of base ball. (I think, not really being a fan.)

Â Recommended.

Michael Eck, a freelance writer from Albany, is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.